Writing A Creative Essay Exercise
(from: http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/AWP/cnf.htm)
Kim Barnes: “What is a Word Worth?”
I often speak to
my writing students about "bringing their intellect to bear" as they
compose their personal essays. What I mean by this is that the best
literary nonfiction should work at a number of different levels, including the
level of intellectual stimulation. The problem we face as writers of
nonfiction is how to challenge our individual stories--how to take the
narrative itself and expand its breadth and reach to encompass more of the
world.
One exercise that I use to help my students achieve this goal involves
building an essay from a single word. First, the students each choose one
word--any word--to which they are particularly drawn, a word that resonates for
them. A young man just discharged from the military chose
"paratrooper"; a middle-aged woman of Scottish descent chose
"bagpipes." I then
require that the students write five sections of nonfiction revolving around
this single word: The first, third, and fifth sections must be personal
memories triggered by the word, and they must be written in present tense no
matter the actual chronology; the second and fourth sections must be more
analytical, intellectual, philosophical, and explore the word in a more
scholarly way. I direct the students to study the word's derivation and
history. They often find passages in religious texts and mythologies that
inform the word's meaning in their own experience. Some discuss the
word's appearance and use in contemporary literature or film.
The goal of this
exercise is to weave the word's broader application into the writer's personal
experience. Ideally, the five sections weave together and inform one
another and bring to the essay a kind of intellectual unity as well as a
greater depth and complexity.
No comments:
Post a Comment